Manual cleaning of horse stalls or other livestock facilities, as conventionally practiced, is typically performed utilizing a commercially-available specially-shaped fork consisting of a scoop portion configured with a row of extending tines, typically molded from plastic, and a handle attached to the scoop portion. In conventional practice of stall cleaning, there is substantial waste because much of the wood shaving bedding material becomes removed and discarded along with the manure, thus necessitating frequent costly replenishment that can amount to many bags of shavings per week per animal, representing a substantial cost factor.
The main approach presently available to control this cost factor is to train, motivate and supervise workers to take the extra time and diligent effort to salvage the wood shavings; however such special training and effort is likely to be merely a tradeoff, shifting the cost to labor and supervision, and could result in zero or negative savings overall. The cost of wasted bedding material is particularly high in prestigious operations and expensive boarding sites where the stalls must be kept in top condition by frequent cleaning and where wood shavings are utilized plentifully for aesthetic and show purposes.